I leave Göreme around 9am. In Kayseri I first have to find the otogar. It was a smooth ride, though my pleasure was slightly spoiled by the bike shoes that hurt my feet.
A thunderstorm is forecast for today but for the moment it’s fine. I have lunch around midday about twenty kilometres from Kayseri.

I book my ticket for 200Tl less than if I’d booked online. No problem with the bike ! Very happy that everything was going so well, I set off to visit Kayseri. There’s a very small historic centre with two main mosques, a historic bazaar and I’m told there’s a caravanserai under renovation... but apparently it’s wrong, I can’t find it in the list. If you widen the circle there are some interesting monuments like an old medresa.

Carpet merchants}
Arriving in the centre, I look for some shade and stop to change my shoes on a bench. I’m walking around with a loaded bike, so I’m very visible as a tourist.
An elderly gentleman comes and sits on the bench next to me. He asks me in English where I’m from, apparently he knows France... Then he tells me he speaks French. He offered to show me around a bit. OK, then he offers me a cup of tea and I enter a room full of carpets. "All unique pieces. Models that are no longer made. I can get them much more cheaply than elsewhere because Kayseri is the carpet centre of Turkey...". Anyway, I ended up leaving him. Yes, I’ll probably come back to Turkey...
I go to visit the citadel. On my way out, a gentleman accosts me and ends up offering me tea in his shop. He sells carpets too, and I’ll have to tell him firmly that I’m not interested before he lets me go... They know each other, of course...

The real price

I leave the centre to go to the otogar because the weather is becoming threatening. But it’s quite far and for the last kilometre I’m treated to strong gusts of wind, hail and rain... I arrived soaked and went to change in the toilets.
When I got on the bus, the driver saw my bike, said he couldn’t take it and that he’d have to pay something extra... In short, I had no choice but to pay almost double... It all depends on the driver and the company, apparently... This misadventure hadn’t happened to a family of four I’d met, but they knew people who’d had to pay the full price...

Diyarbakir}
Arrived in a fairly large otogar around 6am, I think it’s Diyarbakir, in fact it’s 10 km away. No problem, I’ve got time. I do a bit of sightseeing on the way in, look for a place that makes coffee, then end up taking my stove out in a small park along the ramparts.
I arrive at the hotel very early and I can... finish my night !